Alkaloids are important pharmaceuticals that typically are used as analgesics or drug/alcohol cessation agents. Production of alkaloids generally proceeds through a number of synthetic steps, where each step requires isolation of the intermediate before the next synthetic step can be performed. Isolation becomes necessary for a number of reasons, including because byproducts of the reaction interfere with later synthetic steps which may lower the yield or halt the reaction altogether. Moreover, isolation of intermediates itself is an extra synthetic step that can lower the yield and efficiency of the total synthesis. The multi-step nature of the syntheses of the alkaloids described has limited their availability for commercial applications.
Thus, there is a need for routes to key alkaloids which do not require the isolation of intermediates.